1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding electric device, and more particularly, to a folding electric device having perpendicular and horizontal shafts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional structures for electric devices, especially mobile phones, include a straight type and a folding type. Among these, the folding type mobile phone is more widely preferred because it can be stored in a compact manner. Therefore, the demand for this type of structure it is increasing.
FIG. 1 describes one such conventional folding mobile phone 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional mobile phone.
In FIG. 1, a folding mobile phone has substantially semi-elliptic lower and upper units 700 and 711. Lower unit 700 has operating section 702 and upper unit 711 has rectangular display 712. Joint member 720 connects units 700 and 711 with each other so that an operating section face 701 and a display attachment face 710 are opposed to each other when the phone is folded. Upper unit 711 is capable of being opened and closed with respect to lower unit 700.
Mobile phones are now used as a personal digital assistants having not only a telecommunication function but also a browser function such as Internet, transmission and reception of e-mail, schedule control, etc. Therefore, display contents are more varied and include character information, pictures, graphics, etc. As a result, the size of the display section has increased.
In the conventional folding mobile phone, when the user looks at a display section or performs any operation, it is necessary to position the upper and lower units in an open state. Because the upper and lower units must be opened and closed frequently, it is not very convenient for the user. Therefore, there is room for improving the conventional folding mobile phone in order to make it easier to use.
Also in the conventional folding mobile phone, since the display contents are displayed to match a perpendicularity-oriented screen, when displayed characters are read, the number of characters on each line is small. As a result, the user may have difficulty in reading the display contents.
Also, when wide images are displayed, the image must be reduced in size, or the user must scroll back and forth to view the entire image. This is another usability problem with the conventional folding mobile phone.
Furthermore, since the joint member 720 as shown in FIG. 1 must be secured, design options are limited.
In addition to the mobile phone, other folding equipment, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), in which a display and an operating section are arranged separately in two units connected to each other so as to be capable of being opened and closed in the same manner as described above, generally have the same problems.
Another conventional folding mobile phone is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Kokai No. H11-30226. FIGS. 2(a)-2(c) are perspective views of the folding mobile phone described in that Publication.
In FIGS. 2(a)-2(c), the folding mobile phone has lower and upper units 804 and 802, respectively. Lower unit 804 has operating section 803 and upper unit 802 has display 801. Pivot 806 is provided at right angles on journal 805a of hinge 805 connecting upper unit 802 to lower unit 804. Upper unit 802 can be opened and closed as shown by arrow A′ with hinge 805. Upper unit 802, furthermore, can be turned as shown by arrow B′ with pivot 806 so that display 801 is exposed even if the folding mobile phone is folded.
This Publication also discloses a configuration in which a rotation restricting mechanism for restricting rotation at a reversing position and a click locking mechanism for holding the rotation restricted state are provided in pivot 806.
Still another conventional folding mobile phone is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Kokai No. H11-215218. FIG. 3(a) is a perspective view and FIGS. 3(b)-3(c) are plane views of the folding mobile phone described in that Publication.
In FIGS. 3(a)-3(c), mobile phone 910 is configured so that upper unit 906 provided with a display 907 can be turned over and closed as shown by the arrow with hinge 905. Hinge 905 is formed by a ball joint. Hinge 905 connects upper unit 906 to lower unit 901 so that the phone can be opened and closed, and supports upper unit 906 so that upper unit 906 can turn relative to lower unit 901 in an opened state.
Moreover, the Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Kokai No. 2002-158758 discloses still another convention folding mobile phone. The Publication shows a mobile phone wherein the user can look at a display or can perform simple operations when the upper and lower units are not opened.
The Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Kokai No. 2001-156893 shows a mobile phone that switches the display from a perpendicular orientation to a horizontal orientation, or vice versa, along with the rotation of the display unit.
The Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Kokai No. 5-211547 shows a mobile phone wherein a lower unit is pivotally supported on a upper unit and joint face of the units are formed into a curve. Thus a receiver and a transmitter have a distance and an angle suitable for communication.